No Electronics Under 10,000 Feet???

[ryannayr140]

Cell phones are prohibited during flights and electronics are not permitted below 10,000 feet.  Most of us here know that electronics do not interfere with the instruments or communications on the aircraft.  Personally, I think this FAA regulation is ridiculous and was pushed by airlines years ago to get people to pay for expensive phone minutes in the backs of seats.  What do you guys think?  My apologies if this is off topic i don't know where else to post it.

[Jason]

For the most part I agree however I have received a lot of interference on occasion from AT&T cell phones if left on. You can hear a buzzing sound in the headsets whenever data is being received by the phone. If you operate in airplane mode, it shouldn't be an issue.

The regulation is certainly antiquated.

[K5PAT]

     I can't prove it, but I am pretty sure that my iPhone causes the Garmin GNS 430's in my plane to have an "INTEG" error. It does not happen if  I put the iPhone in airplane mode.

Granted, a few cellphones/laptops on an airliner have a very slim chance of causing interference to the electronics, but if you allow everyone to use their electronic gadgets, no one knows what 250-400 cellphones/laptops all operating at the same time can do. The cellphones will probably be operating at max power, albeit several hundred milliwatts,
but there are thousands of opportunities for intermod aboard an all-metal aircraft, so who knows what RF products will be polluting the airwaves with that many transmitters in such a small space.
   I'm for keeping the rules and maintaining some quiet in the cabin.  Can you imagine the noise with everyone trying to talk on their cellphones in business class?

     Also, any ham radio operator can tell you that electronics can and do emit RF interference on the HF bands.  Oceanic flights use HF to report positions and receive other pertinent flight information.  It would be pretty annoying to the pilots, if not downright unsafe, to have your flight's HF communications blocked or interfered with by  someone's cellphone or other piece of electronics.  I know, they are all supposed to comply with FCC Part 15 for incidental interference,  but that is not always adhered to in the real world, and that only applies to electronics that is in proper working  condition. 

[NoMad]

Most of us here know that electronics do not interfere with the instruments or communications on the aircraft.  Personally, I think this FAA regulation is ridiculous and was pushed by airlines years ago to get people to pay for expensive phone minutes in the backs of seats.  What do you guys think?

I think they do interfere. And I think electronics and phones are also a distraction when people should be alert and paying attention during departure and approach.  It isn't ridiculous and has nothing to do with the phones on the seats.  I think most of us here know that.

[sykocus]

There are multiple issues at work. For starters there are thousands of different kinds of cell phones that people use. Every week a new model comes out and yet other people have been using the same model for the past 5-10 years. It is impossible to test every single possible model to ensure they do not interfere with the plane's electronics. And just because a single phone doesn't cause any problems, what about 50, 150, or 250 cell phones all being used at the same time? There are too many variables to be accurately tested.

There's the distraction issue. As it is people already zone out the preflight safety info, if they are allowed to have their phones/ipods on it would be only worse. Exhibit A: .

Also the FCC has banned the use of cell phones in flight because they are worried about a planes traveling so fast that it would bog down the switching system as hundres of cell phones get passed from one cell tower to another every minute.

[NoMad]

That picture is hilarious.

[notaperfectpilot]

I don't think that it really matters if you can have your cell phone on or not. I am not a very 'connected' person as far as text messaging or mobile internet or whatever. I have a phone and I use it for talking and if I need anything else, it is on my computer. (point with that is that it doesn't really matter to me)

Besides if it would work for me or not, I don't think that anyone would get any cell reception at 32,000ft or 10,000 ft for that matter. If you did get coverage, that the phone would be having to switch from tower to tower rapidly. Would that mess up the tower or phones? probably not. Be annoying to the user trying to make a call? Sure. 

Just my thoughts.

btw, what is going on in that picture?

[joeyb747]

btw, what is going on in that picture?

  Check out the guy with his life jacket on upsidedown! 

He was probably playing Angry Birds during the Preflight Safety Demonstration...

[Robin Rebhan]

I cannot imagine sitting next to a guy on a flight from JFK to LAX yapping on his cell phone arguing with the wife, kids, boss and whomever! Ahhhhhhh!
 Maybe that's why that guy a few months back tried to go out the emergency exit at 35,000 a few months back

[Solent Radar]

K5PAT is correct about interference from electronic gadgets - just put your airband receiver next to your PC/laptop and listen to all the noise generated by the processors .

I used a nearfield receiver once onboard since it does not emit any interference , and was surprised by the number of cell phone signals on board. People who had not turned of their phone - or didn't know how to. When a cell phone is out of range from the base transmitter , it will keep 'calling' on high power for a response .

On board cell phone coverage is achieved by the use of an on board repeater. I was on a Ryanair flight that had one fitted. I sent a text message , and received the same reply 10 times !!

[Tarmac]

Sometimes listening to the scanner I hear a airplane with this sound :

http://www.freesound.org/people/RutgerMuller/sounds/50699/

And it can be heard pretty loud sometimes too.....

I would not consider a videocamera to oppose a risk, we like to see landing and takeoff video's, but the cellphone is trying to connect to it's nearest network, so that should be abandoned.....

[Solent Radar]

But virtually all electronics transmit some form of radio frequency interference - granted , most will not interfere with aviation systems , but the powers that be seem to think there is a possibility .